Caleta Olivia: Police evicted the route, 24 detained, 14 injured and an officer with a bullet wound

October 23, 2012
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Santa Cruz police evicted operators of Olivia Foundation, who for more than six hours blocked the north access to the city.

The confrontation ended with a balance of 25 detainees, a commissioner of lead shot and numerous injured on both sides. The order to vacate Route 3 was given by the Federal Court. At 6 pm local police and Infantry forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets.

The tension had reached the highest point when demonstrators began burning tires just two meters from one of the two YPF fuel trucks that they had captured around 1 pm, two hours after the roadblock demanding payment of a wage increase of 25%. According to spokesmen UTEDYC Guild it was approved since August.

The mayor José Cordoba asked some group to come to his office, offering to mediate with the provincial authorities, but those good offices did not prosper.

When negotiating bodies were exhausted and had an extreme situation as some of the protesters had also climbed a diesel fuel tank of the San Carlos station, with the firm intention to explode it, the commissioner Carlos Ayuso gave the order to evict the protesters.